Folding type can opener



June 3, 1952- w. H. SCHULZ ETAL FOLDING 'rY-Fis CAN OPENER 2Sl-IEETS-SI-IEET 1 Filed Oct. 17, 1949 June 1952 H. SCHULZ ETAL2,598,839

FQLDING TYPECAN OPENER Filed Oct. 17. 1949 a SHEETS-SHEET 2 I ViZZzam.H. Schulz 025 .E'. Baal-1m Patented June 3, 1952 FOLDING TYPE CANOPENER William H. Schulz, St. Paul, Minn., and Lois E. Boehm, Milwaukee,Wis., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Western Nowell Mfg. 00.,Freeport, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application October 17,1949,Serial No. 121,712

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in can openers and refersparticularly to openers designed to produce a pouring opening in the endwall of a can as for instance such cans in which beer and otherbeverages are now commonly sold. An example of the type of can opener towhich this invention pertains is found in Patent No. 1,996,550 issued toD. F. Sampson et a1.

This type of can opener received its impetus with the advent of cannedbeer; and breweries now usually enclose one of these openers with eachcase of canned beer. To guard against the sharp piercing point of theopener puncturing the walls of the corrugated paperboardcase, aprotective sheath is often placed over the piercing point. But this addsto the cost of the opener and, of course, is a purely temporaryexpedient.

A more practical solution to the problem is provided by the patent to J.M. Hothersall No. 2,188,352 wherein the desired protection is obtainedby jack knifing the opener upon itself. The present invention followthis patent to the extent that it provides an opener having two sectionsfoldable upon each other, but has as its object to provide a foldingtype can opener of the character described which may be produced at nogreater cost than the conventional one piece can openers represented bythe aforesaid Sampson et al. patent.

With this objective in view it is a further and more specific object toprovide a novel hinged connection between the punch and handle sectionsof the opener which is so constructed that within itself it provides thenecessary knuckle connection to restrain the sections against relativeswinging movement in one direction beyond the point at which they are insubstantially endto-end relationship.

Another object of this invention is to provide a folding can opener ofthe character described wherein a novel coaction exists between thehinge connection of the opener and the bottle opener with which suchopeners are equipped to the extent that the hole which results from theformation of the bottle cap remover provides a pocket into which thepiercing point is received when the opener is in its folded condition.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a simple detentmeans for holding the opener in its folded condition.

Wth the above and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, this invention resides in the novel construction,combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafterdescribed, and more particularly 2 defined by the appended claims, itbeing understood that such changes in the precise embodiment of thehereindisclosed invention may be made as come within the scope of theclaims.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one complete example of thephysical embodiment of the invention constructed in accordance "with thebest modes so far devised for the practical application of theprinciples thereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a can opener of the characterdescribed shown folded;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the opener in its foldedcondition with a part of the punch section broken away and in section toillustrate the detent action of this form of the invention;

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the opener in its extended oroperative position;

Figure 4 is a perspective'view of the hinge connection per se;

Figure 5 is a perspective view illustrating the manner in which theopener is used to produce a pouring opening in an end wall of a can;

Figure 6 is a perspective view illustrating the manner in which theopener is employed 'to remove bottle caps;

Figure '7 is a perspective view similar to Figure l but illustrating aslightly modified embodiment of the invention;

Figure 8 is a detail sectional view taken through Figure 7 on the planeof the line 8'-8;

Figure 9 is a side elevation view of the opener shown in Figure 7 butwith the punch and handle sections in their operative end-to-endrelation ship; and

Figure 10 is a developed plan view of the hinged end of the punchsection of that form of the invention shown in Figure 7.

Referring now particularly to the accompanying drawings the numerals 5and 6, respectively,

designate the punch and handle sections of the opener. These sectionsare hingedly connected" as at I to enable the same to be folded uponeach other as shown in Figure l or swung into end-to-end relationship asshown in Figure 3.

Both sections are preferably stamped and formed from band stock so thatthe body of each is substantially a flat bar. The punch section 5 has apiercing point 8 at one end thereof and at its other end has atransverse slot 9 which provides part of the hinge connection. Thepiercing point 8 is bent and slightly curved out of the general plane ofthe punch section, and at the base thereof a tongue or prong I0 i struckfrom the body of the punch section to underlie the piercing point insuch a manner as to provide a fulcrum engageable under the rim II of acan as shown in Figure 5.

As is well known with the fulcrum I!) thus hooked under the rim II thepiercing point 8 overlies the end wall I2 of the can so that as thepunchsection is rocked upwardly the desired pouring opening will be produced.

The handle section 6 has its outer end bent as at I3 to provide anoffset end portion M. A tang I is struck from the bent portion [3 tounderlie the offset end portion I4 and'coact therewith to form a bottlecap remover which functions in the manner shown in Figure 6. e i

Attention is directed to the fact that in'the formation of the tang I5 ahole or opening I6 is produced.

The hinge connection 1 consists of a loop II on the handle sectionencircling the land I8 left between the slot 9 and the adjacent end ofthe punch section. The loop i formed from a tongue extended from the endof the handle section and passed through the slot 9 before the loop isfully formed.

Attention is directed to the fact that the tongue is curled back overthe top of the handle section. As a result the two sections can befolded upon each other only in the direction in which the piercing'pointfaces the handle section, and be- .cause of the relative dimensions ofthe two sections the piercing point enters the hole or opening I6 in thehandle section. The tang I5 and the nesting of the piercing point in thehole I6 thus coact to provide protection against accidental contact withthe piercing point.

Detent means are provided for holding the sections in their foldedrelationship, and in that embodiment of the invention shown in Figure lthe detent action results from the specific shape of the hinge loop.Thus, as best shown in Figure 2, the loop has a substantially flatportion I9 spaced from the opposite arcuate portion 20 a distanceslightly less than the width of the land I8. As the sections are foldedonto each other the inclined flat portion I9 serves as a cam face to.wedge the land I8 between it and the opposite arcuateportion 20 to holdthe sections in folded condition, the resiliency of the loop making thisaction possible.

In that embodiment of the invention shown in Figure 7 the detent isprovided by opposed protuberances 2i on the side edges of the loo 11, soplaced with respect to the circumference of theloop, which in thiscaseis round as shown in 'FigureQ, that in passing from folded conditionto extended condition the protuberances must move from one side to theother of the punch section. By accurately dimensioning of the parts sothat the width of the loop across the high points of the protuberances2I slightly exceeds the length of the slot 9, it will be seen that theprotuberances will frictionally hold the opener sections folded uponeach other. This action is further assured by theinclined cam surfaces22 which extend from the tops of the protuberances and form the sides ofthe end portion of the loop.

In each embodiment of the invention shown, the end of the loop is spacedfrom the adjacent body of the handle section a distance to receive theland I8 therebetween, such engagement being permitted by having the slot9 wide enough to accommodate the necessary endwise shifting of thesections with respect to each other after they have been brought intoend-to-end relationship. In this manner the hinge connection may belocked to secure the two sections against relative displacement ineither direction and thereby provide a relatively stiff lever formanipulation of the opener in the manner shown in Figure 5.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings it will be readily apparent to those skilled in this art thatthis invention provides a can opener which can be produced at little orno increase in cost over and above that of the conventional one pieceopener, and that by virtue of the entry of the piercing point into theprotective pocket resulting from the formation of the bottle cap removera unique protection is afforded against accidental contact with thepiercing point.

What we claim as our invention is:

'1. A folding can opener for producing a pouring opening in an end wallof a can, comprising: a punch section and a handle section hingedlyconnected together; a piercing point at the outer end of the punchsection; and a fulcrum on the punch section adjacent to the base of thepiercing point and underlying the same to hook under the rim of a canbounding the end wall in which a pouring opening is to be produced, withthe piercing point over said end wall, the hinge connection between thesections comprising a tongue extended from one of the sections through aslot in the other section, and curled around the land left between theslot and the extreme end of the section in which the slot is formed,said slot being wide enough to accommodate relative endwise shifting ofthe sections when said sections are in end-to-end relation, and the endof the loop overlying the-body of the section from which the tongueextends and said end being spaced a distance from said body to form arecess adapted to receive said land on the end of the other section whenit is desired to hold the sections in end-to-end relation for canpiercing manipulation of the opener.

2. The folding can opener set forth in claim 1 further characterized bythe provision of detent means for yieldingly holding the sections foldedupon each other, said detent means comprising protrusions on theopposite side edges of the loop, the sides of said protrusions servingas cams and the height of the protrusions being such that the width ofthe loop across the tops of the protrusion is slightly in excess of thelength of the slot so that as the sections are swung on the hingeconnection said protrusions are cammed from one side to the other of thesection in which the slot is formed.

WILLI M H. SCHULZ. LOIS E. BOEHM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,188,352 Hothersall Jan. 30,1940 2,546,257 Eckman Mar. 27, 1951

